Brick-machine



4H. R. MQCUNE.

' BRICK MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2. 1911.

H. R. MCCUNE.

BRICK MACHINE.

APPLlcATloN FILEQMAR. 2, |911.

Patented May 13, 1919.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN VENTO? Arr-'Y is.

ms 'vonnis Plums ca, Puanxurm. wAsmNnruN. n. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT R. MecUNE, or DEGATUR, ILLINoIs, AssIeNoR 'ro DECATUR BRICKl MANUFACTURING coivIIANY, oRnEcA'rUR, ILLINOIS, A coRroRA'rIoN or ILLINOIS.

BRICK-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 2, 1917. Serial No. 151,918.

To all 'whom 1f/may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT R. MGCUNE, a resident of Decatur, county of Macon, and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Brick-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in brick machines and particularly to that type of machines known as stiff mud machines and has for its principal object the provision of means for roughening the surface or surfaces of the column of clay from which the brick are cut, so as to produce an artistic and highly ornamental form of brick.

Another object of this invention is the provision of means for ornamenting the sides or rear ends of the brick, as well as the face, said means including provision for adjustments for usual purposes and also for forming brick with smooth edge portions.

Another object of this invention is the provision of such mechanism which utilizes rotary brushes driven at a high speed to remove part of the surface portion of the clay to form 'an ornamented roughened surface and one that will permit the laying of the brick in either directionin the wall without it holding moisture, dirt or the like.

A further object of this invention is the provision of such a mechanism which may be readily attached to standard forms of stiff mud presses and properly adjusted thereon. l

Further objects include improvements in details of construction and arrangement, whereby an effectively operating mechanism is provided.`

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and then sou ht to be defined in the appended. claims, re erence being had'to the accompanying drawv4 ing forming a part hereof, and which shows for the purpose of illustrative disclosure a preferred embodiment of my idea as applied to a standard form of stiff mud press, it being expressly understood, however, that various changes may be made in practice within the scope of the claims without digressing from my inventive idea.

Figure lrepresents a top plan View of a mechanism constructed according to my in# vention, as applied to one form `of stiff mud t press; I i

Fig. 2 represents a view in side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 represents a view in end elevation of the .vertical brushes for ornamenting the sidesof the column of clay and the operating and adjusting mechanism therefor;

Figs. 4t and 5 represent views in detail of the ornamenting brush;

Fig. 6` represents a view in perspective of part of a brick, `with its face and end surfaces entirely roughened;

Fig. 7 represents a view in perspective of part of a brick, having its surfaces roughened, but with the smooth edge portions.

Fig. 8 are detailed views in top plan and section of the mamier of assembling the bristles in the brushes.

I am aware that mechanisms have been previously patented for producing ornamented bricks of various kinds of roughened i surfaces and the like, and it is the purpose of this invention to provide a mechanism to make bricks with rough ornamental faces by means of brushes, having bristles preferably of wire or other stiftl material, and including means for proper adjustment of the mechanism, and also for adjusting the body of the brush so that the edge portions of the brick may be left in a smooth condition, if desired.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral l designates the mouth and die of a stii mud press of standard form, this be ing shown, as stated hereinbefore, merely for illustrative purposes. `The mechanism.

embodying my invention is supported therefrom by means of the arms or lbracket members 2, and includes the horizontal supporting bar 3 and the vertically extending bracket members 4 movable on 'said bar, these elements forming the supporting frame of the mechanism. The supporting bar Sis connected to a plurality of the arms or bracket Vmembers 2, and other of the arms or bracket members-2, are connected to the lower portionsof the vertically; extending bracket members l, so that theframe is supported from the press.

This frame forms the supporting means for a Ipair of ornamenting lneans for the sides of the column of clay, as it passes from the die to the usual conveyer mechanism.. As stated hereinbefore, the vertical bracket members 4: are movable on the horizontal supporting bar 3, `beingprovided with the tion 13 from driving sprocket 14, which is operatively connected to the conveyer mechanism as shown.

Secured to each vbracket member 1 is the bracket 15 through which passes the adjusting or tension screw 16 which has a right handthread on one side and a left hand thread onthe other side, for the purpose of making close and lminute adjustments. The holding.member -17 is secured to the supporting bar 3 by meansofA set screws 18 and is provided with the bifurcated or forked portion 19 which fits between the collars 2O on the'shaft 1l, soA as to held the shaft'rigid.

'Each fof the vertically extending bracket members is provide-d with the lateral extension 21, bored as at 22 to provide a bearing for the vertical shaft 23, this shaft having a gear 24 on itsy upper end in mesh with gear 9' on horizontal shaft 11. Secured to the lowerend of each vertically extending bracket member L is the horizontally extending plate member 25, which is formed with the aperture 26 openingthrough the bottom thereof. This aperture receives fthe journal extension 28 of bearing plate. 29which is adjusted in position by means of the screws 30, the journal extension 2.8 providing a journal for the lower lend of theverticalishaft 23, which is provided with the grease cup and oil way 27. @n each vertical shaftiis mounted a brush piemb'er which Ywill be described in detail Mier. v t

' Brackets 31 adjustably mounted on each sideofI the f-rfamevby the nut and screw connection with the `ilangge, as shown, extend upwardly from the conveyer frame and. have the',Thead to supportthe bearing for the horizontal shaft- 32, this shaft being positioned forwardly of last described mechfArdditional braces 31, extend to the frame where they are radjustably connected by. the `slot bolt connection 3l". This horizontal shaft is provided with the driving sprocket 3?? on the, otherside which is driven by the chain or other flexible connection from the lsprocket 341 on the other side of shaft l1. This shaft 32 has the means described Q11 each Side te permit raisins and levering and surpass and, drives, one of the brush menbersfths one Qruamentns the top face ofthe column of clay, which forms the fate 'of the, @wasted brick Each of the brush members includes the supporting portion of the shaft which is square in cross-section, having secured to each face thereof, the bar orv plate member 36,' which extends the length of the square supporting portion. The bunches of bristles 37 are looped in the holding plate 38, which is detachably connected to said bar or plate member 86, and has the rod or wire members 38 passed through the loops and resting in grooves or notches in plate 3S where they are secured by soldering or otherwise. On each end of each brush member I mount the adjusting plate 39, which has the apertured hub portion 40 to t the shaft, set screw 41 being utilized to lock or set the plate in any of its adjusted positions so as to vary the ef fective area of the brush members by confining the bristles more or less. These bristles are of iexible wire or any other suitable mate-rial to produce a fine textured facc brick.

The operation of the mechanism is obvious from a consideration of the description'in connection with the drawings. The column of clay is forced out of the press and is subj ected to the action of the brush members on the sides and the top, thereof, the brushes being driven at a high rate of speed and in a direction opposite to that of the movement of the clay, whereby the surface of the clay is roughened to provide a very desirable and effective ornamental appearance, as indicated in the drawing. It is to be noted that the construction shown provides for the various adjustments necessary under different working conditions, that is if the parts get out of alinement or wear, The side brushes are provided with the adjustment at their lower bearing to correct variations from the vertical. The vertical bracket members are readily adjusted by loosening one set screw 6 and turning screw 16. In this way minute and correct adjustment is obtained. The effective extent of vthe brush may be varied by the movement of the adjusting plates 39 so as to provide the bricks with the smooth edge portions, as shown clearly in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

lVhile the driving mechanism shown is applicable to a machine of the type disclosed, in applying the invention to other types of machines different supporting and drivingr connections may be utilized.

This mechanism is simple in construction, readily attached or mounted in position, capable of numerous adjustments, and effective in producing a novel form of ornamental brick.

Vhat I claim is,-

1. attachment for brick presses of the type described including in combination a supporting frame having a horizontal member and -a pair of vertically arranged bracket members movablyy Suppprted, on saidV horizontal member, a brush member journaled on a vertical aXis in each of said bracket memers, and means for driving said brush memers.

2. An attachment for brick presses of the type described including in combination a supporting frame having a horizontal member and a pair of vertically arranged bracket members movably supported on said horizontal member, each bracket member having an off-set portion to provide one bearing for a vertical shaft, a bearing member connected to the lower end of each bracket to provide the other bearing for the vertical shaft, and a vertical shaft mounted in said bearings having a brush member mounted thereon.'

3. An attachment for brick presses of the type described, including a supporting frame having a horizontal member and a pair of vertically arranged bracket members movably supported on said horizontal member, means for adjusting the position of said vertical bracket members relative to each other, a horizontal shaft journaled in said vertical bracket members, means connected to said horizontal member for holding said horizontal shaft rigid, a pair of gears slidably keyed to said horizontal shaft, a pair of vertical shafts arranged in spaced relation, one being journaled in each of said vertical members, a gear on each vertical shaft meshing With one of said slidably keyed gears on said horizontal shaft, and means for driving said horizontal shaft.

4l. An attachment for brick presses of the type described, including a supporting frame having a horizontal member and a pair of vertically arranged bracket members movably supported on said horizontal member, means for adj ust-ing the position of said vertical bracket members relative to each other, a horizontal shaft journaled in said vertical bracket members, means connected to said horizontal member for holding said horizontal shaft rigid, a pair of gears slidably keyed to said horizontal shaft, each vertical bracket member having an off-set portion and also having a bearing member provided on its lower end, each bearing member and olf-set portion having a bearing, .a vertical shaft mounted in said bearings in each bracket member, a gear on each vertical shaft meshing ywith one of said slidably keyed gears on said horizontal shaft, means for driving said horizontal shaft, and brush members mounted on said vertical shafts.

5. In combination ywith a brick press, a supporting frame having a brush member supported therein in position to engage the side of the column of clay discharged from said press, means for rotating said brush member so as to ornamentally roughen the side of the column of clay, and means for varying the area of the effective portion of the brush whereby the entire side of the column of clay may be ornamented by the brush, or only a portion of the side of the columnv of clay may be thus ornamented.

G. In combination With a brick press of the type described, a supporting frame having a pair of brush members arranged in spaced relation thereon soy as to ornamentally roughen the sides of the column of clay discharged from said press, means for rotating said brush members, and means for regulating the size or extent of the effective portion of said brush members.

7 In combi-nation with a brick press of the type described, a supporting frame having a pair of brush members arranged in spaced relation thereon so as to ornamentally roughen the sides of the column of clay discharged from said press, means for rotating said brush members, and means for regulating the size or extent of the effective portion of said brush members, including plate members and means for adjusting said plate members so as to vary the confinement of the bristles of t'he brush members.

S. An attachment for brick presses of the type described including in combination a supporting frame having a horizontal member and a pair of vertically arranged bracket members movably supported on said horizontal member, each bracket member having an off-set portion to provide one bearing for a vertical shaft, a bearing member connected to the lower end of each bracket to provide the other bearing for the vertical shaft, and a vertical shaft mounted in said bearings having a brush member mounted thereon, and means for adjusting each of said bearing members to vary the position of said vertical shafts.

HERBERT R. MCCUNE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

